brothel

[ broth-uhl, broth-, braw-thuhl, -thuhl ]
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noun
  1. a house of prostitution.

Origin of brothel

1
First recorded in 1350–1400, for an earlier sense; short for brothel-house “whorehouse”; Middle English brothel “harlot,” originally, “worthless person,” from broth- (past participle stem of brethen, Old English brēothan “to decay, degenerate”) + -el, noun suffix

Other words from brothel

  • broth·el·like, adjective

Words Nearby brothel

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How to use brothel in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for brothel

brothel

/ (ˈbrɒθəl) /


noun
  1. a house or other place where men pay to have sexual intercourse with prostitutes

  2. Australian informal any untidy or messy place

Origin of brothel

1
C16: short for brothel-house, from C14 brothel useless person, from Old English brēothan to deteriorate; related to briethel worthless

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